Vi, like Violet, grew up in the Sump, one of the poorest areas of Zaun, learning from a young age to survive using cunning and fists. She hides a dark and mysterious past that ties her to Jinx, her sister.

The leader of a gang from a young age, Vi has always stood out for her rigid moral code; having disappeared during a period of great turmoil between Zaun and Piltover, she was presumed dead for years, only to reappear in the Guardians' corps as Sheriff Caitlyn's trusted working partner.

Vi's primary weapons are the "Atlas Gauntlet," two giant Hextech-powered gauntlets that increase her physical strength to superhuman levels.

Vi and Jinx, formerly known as Powder, are sisters whose parents, Connol and Felicia, died in a failed underground city uprising against Piltover, and have since been raised by the former rebel leader, Vander, along with two other orphans: Mylo and Claggor.

Vi, Powder and the two adoptive brothers attempt to burgle the penthouse of a Piltovian scientist, Jayce, accidentally causing an explosion; although they manage to escape by returning to the underground city, the quartet inadvertently provokes a frantic hunt for the culprit by the Piltover authorities. As the de-facto leader of the gang, Vi attempts to turn herself in to calm the waters but is beaten to it by Vander; taking advantage of the situation, the ambitious criminal boss Silco - once a close friend of the man - captures him and has the agents to whom he had surrendered killed, in an attempt to foment a new rebellion. Vi, Mylo and Claggor go to the rescue of their putative father and, in order to help them, Powder causes an explosion in which everyone dies except Vi who, furious and desperate, hits her sister and shouts that "it brings bad luck" before running away in tears and being arrested by a corrupt agent.

After spending about seven years in prison in Stillwater, Vi is released thanks to Caitlyn Kiramman, a young and upright Guardian of Piltover who asks her to assist her in investigating Silco and with whom she establishes an unexpectedly deep bond, becoming friends.

Returning to the underground city Vi began searching for his sister, later discovering that she worked for Silco.